Weekly Cap, Not Daily: German Plan Ties Overtime Flexibility to Union Deals
Published on 06/18/2026 at 16:39 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Germany’s labour ministry has ignited a fierce debate with a draft law that would let employers and unions replace the traditional daily eight-hour maximum with a weekly limit – but only within companies bound by collective bargaining agreements.
The proposal, presented by Labour Minister Bärbel Bas, allows unionised firms to agree on a weekly cap of up to 48 hours averaged over the year, provided worker health protections are maintained. Companies without a valid tariff agreement must stick to the existing daily ceiling. Bas stressed there is no plan to loosen the eight-hour day for the broader economy.
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The draft is part of a larger reform package scheduled to address pension and tax issues before the summer recess, but it has not yet been finalised within the coalition government.
Employers push back on tariff-only restriction
Business leaders immediately attacked the condition that only tariff-bound companies can use the new flexibility. Rainer Dulger, president of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, called for the draft to be withdrawn. Oliver Zander, managing director of the metalworking employers’ association Gesamtmetall, described the restriction as reflecting “maximum trade-union positions.”
Opposition from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union also emerged. MP Marc Biadacz argued that any flexibility should be available to all workers, regardless of whether their employer is covered by a tariff agreement.
Digital time recording becomes mandatory
A separate key element of the draft introduces a binding obligation for electronic time recording. Trust-based working time will still be possible, but employers must set up systems that can detect violations of working-time rules.
Andrea Hammermann, an economist at the German Economic Institute (IW), welcomed the shift. She said the combination of greater flexibility with digital logging benefits both sides, adding that for office workers it poses “no health risks.”
International and domestic side-stories
Parallel to the national debate, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a convention just before the announcement to protect platform workers. The ILO text guarantees rights, minimum wage standards and transparency obligations regarding algorithmic management.
On the EU front, Germany faces pressure over the pay transparency directive. The Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) noted that the transposition deadline expired on 7 June without a government bill being tabled. With a gender pay gap of 16 percent, the union demanded swift action.
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Academic contracts also in play
In higher education, the German Society for Psychology (DGPs) commented on a separate 26 May draft to reform the fixed-term contract law for academics (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). The society welcomed the promise of more reliable career paths but criticised a planned elimination of the carry-over rule for unused contract durations.
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